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Direction: Read the following paragraph carefully and answer the question given below:
Henry Varnum Poor, editor of American Railroad Journal, drew the important elements of the image of the railroad together in 1851, ―Look at the results of this material progress, the vigor, life, and executive energy that followed in its train, rapidly succeeded by wealth, the refinement and intellectual culture of a high civilization. All this is typified, in a degree, by a locomotive. The combination in its construction of nice art and scientific application of power, its speed surpassing that of our proudest courser, and its immense strength, are all characteristic of our age and tendencies. To us, like the telegraph, it is essential, it constitutes a part of our nature, is a condition of our being what we are.
In the third decade of the nineteenth century, Americans began to define their character in light of the new railroads. They liked the idea that it took special people to foresee and capitalize on the promise of science. Railroad promoters, using the steam engine as a metaphor for what they thought Americans were and what they thought Americans were becoming, frequently discussed parallels between the locomotive and national character, pointing out that both possessed youth, power, speed, single-mindedness, and bright prospects.
Poor was, of course, promoting acceptance of railroads and enticing his readers to open their pocketbooks. But his metaphors had their dark side. A locomotive was quite unlike anything Americans had ever seen. It was large, mysterious and dangerous; many thought that it was a monster waiting to devour the unwary. There was a suspicion that a country founded upon Jeffersonian agrarian principles had bought a ticket and boarded a train pulled by some iron monster into the dark recesses of an unknown future.
To ease such public apprehensions, promoters, poets, editors, and writers alike adopted the notion that locomotives were really only ―iron horses,‖ an early metaphor that lingered because it made steam technology ordinary and understandable. Iron horse metaphors assuaged fears about inherent defects in the national character, prompting images of a more secure future, and made an alien technology less frightening, and even comforting and congenial.
Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the locomotive as an agent of domestic harmony. He observed that ―the locomotive and the steamboat, like enormous shuttles, shoot every day across the thousand various threads of national descent and employment and bind them fast in one web, "adding ―an hourly assimilation goes forward, and there is no danger that local peculiarities and hostilities should be preserved. To us Americans, it seems to have fallen as a political aid. We could not else have held the vast North America together, which we now engage to do"
The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following? 
  • a)
    Criticise one interpretation of the early American railroads. 
  • b)
    Discuss the early years of the railroad and its connection to the American character of the time. 
  • c)
    Suggest that railroads were the most important development in the history of America.
  • d)
    Describe the apprehension with which most of the Americans greeted the early railroads. 
  • e)
    Assert that Americans were tricked into believing that the railroads were beneficial for them 
Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?
Most Upvoted Answer
Direction:Readthefollowing paragraphcarefully andanswerthequestiongive...
The passage focuses on the early railroads and their link to the American character of the time. Here's a refined explanation:
  • Henry Varnum Poor used railroads as a metaphor for American progress, highlighting their speed and power.
  • In the 19th century, Americans saw railroads as symbols of national character and progress.
  • Railroad promoters likened locomotives to American traits—youth, power, and ambition.
  • Despite the excitement, some feared the railroads, viewing them as dangerous and unknown.
  • Iron horse metaphors were used to make the technology more relatable and less threatening.
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson saw railroads as unifying forces that helped bind the nation together.
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Community Answer
Direction:Readthefollowing paragraphcarefully andanswerthequestiongive...
Overview of the Passage
The passage explores the early years of railroads in America and their profound impact on the national character and societal development during the 19th century.
Connection to American Character
- The author, Henry Varnum Poor, emphasizes how railroads symbolize material progress and the energy of American society.
- Railroads were seen as a reflection of American traits such as youth, power, and speed, aligning with the aspirations of the nation.
Promoters' Perspectives
- Railroad promoters used the metaphor of the locomotive to portray Americans as forward-thinking and innovative.
- This metaphor helped to create a positive image of railroads as integral to national identity and development.
Public Apprehension
- Despite the excitement, there were fears associated with the new technology, likening locomotives to "monsters" that could lead Americans into an uncertain future.
- To alleviate these fears, metaphors like "iron horses" made the technology seem less threatening and more relatable.
Influence on National Unity
- Ralph Waldo Emerson viewed the locomotive as a unifying force, binding together diverse threads of American society and promoting harmony.
- The railroads were seen as essential for maintaining the cohesion of a vast country, thus contributing to a sense of national identity.
Conclusion
In sum, the passage primarily discusses the early years of the railroad and its connection to the American character of the time. It captures the duality of excitement and apprehension that characterized the public's response to this transformative technology, which ultimately played a pivotal role in shaping American society.
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Direction:Readthefollowing paragraphcarefully andanswerthequestiongivenbelow:Henry Varnum Poor, editor of American Railroad Journal, drew the important elements of the image of the railroad together in 1851, Look at the results of this material progress, the vigor, life, and executive energy that followed in its train, rapidly succeeded by wealth, the refinement and intellectual culture of a high civilization. All this is typified, in a degree, by a locomotive. The combination in its construction of nice art and scientific application of power, its speed surpassing that of our proudest courser, and its immense strength, are all characteristic of our age and tendencies. To us, like the telegraph, it is essential, it constitutes a part of our nature, is a condition of our being what we are.In the third decade of the nineteenth century, Americans began to define their character in light of the new railroads. They liked the idea that it took special people to foresee and capitalize on the promise of science. Railroad promoters, using the steam engine as a metaphor for what they thought Americans were and what they thought Americans were becoming, frequently discussed parallels between the locomotive and national character, pointing out that both possessed youth, power, speed, single-mindedness, and bright prospects.Poor was, of course, promoting acceptance of railroads and enticing his readers to open their pocketbooks. But his metaphors had their dark side. A locomotive was quite unlike anything Americans had ever seen. It was large, mysterious and dangerous; many thought that it was a monster waiting to devour the unwary. There was a suspicion that a country founded upon Jeffersonian agrarian principles had bought a ticket and boarded a train pulled by some iron monster into the dark recesses of an unknown future.To ease such public apprehensions, promoters, poets, editors, and writers alike adopted the notion that locomotives were really only iron horses, an early metaphor that lingered because it made steam technology ordinary and understandable. Iron horse metaphors assuaged fears about inherent defects in the national character, prompting images of a more secure future, and made an alien technology less frightening, and even comforting and congenial.Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the locomotive as an agent of domestic harmony. He observed that the locomotive and the steamboat, like enormous shuttles, shoot every day across the thousand various threads of national descent and employment and bind them fast in one web,"adding an hourly assimilation goes forward, and there is no danger that local peculiarities and hostilities should be preserved. To us Americans, it seems to have fallen as a political aid. We could not else have held the vast North America together, which we now engage to do"The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?a)Criticise one interpretation of the early American railroads.b)Discuss the early years of the railroad and its connection to the American character of the time.c)Suggest that railroads were the most important development in the history of America.d)Describe the apprehension with which most of the Americans greeted the early railroads.e)Assert that Americans were tricked into believing that the railroads were beneficial for themCorrect answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer? for CAT 2025 is part of CAT preparation. The Question and answers have been prepared according to the CAT exam syllabus. Information about Direction:Readthefollowing paragraphcarefully andanswerthequestiongivenbelow:Henry Varnum Poor, editor of American Railroad Journal, drew the important elements of the image of the railroad together in 1851, Look at the results of this material progress, the vigor, life, and executive energy that followed in its train, rapidly succeeded by wealth, the refinement and intellectual culture of a high civilization. All this is typified, in a degree, by a locomotive. The combination in its construction of nice art and scientific application of power, its speed surpassing that of our proudest courser, and its immense strength, are all characteristic of our age and tendencies. To us, like the telegraph, it is essential, it constitutes a part of our nature, is a condition of our being what we are.In the third decade of the nineteenth century, Americans began to define their character in light of the new railroads. They liked the idea that it took special people to foresee and capitalize on the promise of science. Railroad promoters, using the steam engine as a metaphor for what they thought Americans were and what they thought Americans were becoming, frequently discussed parallels between the locomotive and national character, pointing out that both possessed youth, power, speed, single-mindedness, and bright prospects.Poor was, of course, promoting acceptance of railroads and enticing his readers to open their pocketbooks. But his metaphors had their dark side. A locomotive was quite unlike anything Americans had ever seen. It was large, mysterious and dangerous; many thought that it was a monster waiting to devour the unwary. There was a suspicion that a country founded upon Jeffersonian agrarian principles had bought a ticket and boarded a train pulled by some iron monster into the dark recesses of an unknown future.To ease such public apprehensions, promoters, poets, editors, and writers alike adopted the notion that locomotives were really only iron horses, an early metaphor that lingered because it made steam technology ordinary and understandable. Iron horse metaphors assuaged fears about inherent defects in the national character, prompting images of a more secure future, and made an alien technology less frightening, and even comforting and congenial.Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the locomotive as an agent of domestic harmony. He observed that the locomotive and the steamboat, like enormous shuttles, shoot every day across the thousand various threads of national descent and employment and bind them fast in one web,"adding an hourly assimilation goes forward, and there is no danger that local peculiarities and hostilities should be preserved. To us Americans, it seems to have fallen as a political aid. We could not else have held the vast North America together, which we now engage to do"The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?a)Criticise one interpretation of the early American railroads.b)Discuss the early years of the railroad and its connection to the American character of the time.c)Suggest that railroads were the most important development in the history of America.d)Describe the apprehension with which most of the Americans greeted the early railroads.e)Assert that Americans were tricked into believing that the railroads were beneficial for themCorrect answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer? covers all topics & solutions for CAT 2025 Exam. Find important definitions, questions, meanings, examples, exercises and tests below for Direction:Readthefollowing paragraphcarefully andanswerthequestiongivenbelow:Henry Varnum Poor, editor of American Railroad Journal, drew the important elements of the image of the railroad together in 1851, Look at the results of this material progress, the vigor, life, and executive energy that followed in its train, rapidly succeeded by wealth, the refinement and intellectual culture of a high civilization. All this is typified, in a degree, by a locomotive. The combination in its construction of nice art and scientific application of power, its speed surpassing that of our proudest courser, and its immense strength, are all characteristic of our age and tendencies. To us, like the telegraph, it is essential, it constitutes a part of our nature, is a condition of our being what we are.In the third decade of the nineteenth century, Americans began to define their character in light of the new railroads. They liked the idea that it took special people to foresee and capitalize on the promise of science. Railroad promoters, using the steam engine as a metaphor for what they thought Americans were and what they thought Americans were becoming, frequently discussed parallels between the locomotive and national character, pointing out that both possessed youth, power, speed, single-mindedness, and bright prospects.Poor was, of course, promoting acceptance of railroads and enticing his readers to open their pocketbooks. But his metaphors had their dark side. A locomotive was quite unlike anything Americans had ever seen. It was large, mysterious and dangerous; many thought that it was a monster waiting to devour the unwary. There was a suspicion that a country founded upon Jeffersonian agrarian principles had bought a ticket and boarded a train pulled by some iron monster into the dark recesses of an unknown future.To ease such public apprehensions, promoters, poets, editors, and writers alike adopted the notion that locomotives were really only iron horses, an early metaphor that lingered because it made steam technology ordinary and understandable. Iron horse metaphors assuaged fears about inherent defects in the national character, prompting images of a more secure future, and made an alien technology less frightening, and even comforting and congenial.Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the locomotive as an agent of domestic harmony. He observed that the locomotive and the steamboat, like enormous shuttles, shoot every day across the thousand various threads of national descent and employment and bind them fast in one web,"adding an hourly assimilation goes forward, and there is no danger that local peculiarities and hostilities should be preserved. To us Americans, it seems to have fallen as a political aid. We could not else have held the vast North America together, which we now engage to do"The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?a)Criticise one interpretation of the early American railroads.b)Discuss the early years of the railroad and its connection to the American character of the time.c)Suggest that railroads were the most important development in the history of America.d)Describe the apprehension with which most of the Americans greeted the early railroads.e)Assert that Americans were tricked into believing that the railroads were beneficial for themCorrect answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?.
Solutions for Direction:Readthefollowing paragraphcarefully andanswerthequestiongivenbelow:Henry Varnum Poor, editor of American Railroad Journal, drew the important elements of the image of the railroad together in 1851, Look at the results of this material progress, the vigor, life, and executive energy that followed in its train, rapidly succeeded by wealth, the refinement and intellectual culture of a high civilization. All this is typified, in a degree, by a locomotive. The combination in its construction of nice art and scientific application of power, its speed surpassing that of our proudest courser, and its immense strength, are all characteristic of our age and tendencies. To us, like the telegraph, it is essential, it constitutes a part of our nature, is a condition of our being what we are.In the third decade of the nineteenth century, Americans began to define their character in light of the new railroads. They liked the idea that it took special people to foresee and capitalize on the promise of science. Railroad promoters, using the steam engine as a metaphor for what they thought Americans were and what they thought Americans were becoming, frequently discussed parallels between the locomotive and national character, pointing out that both possessed youth, power, speed, single-mindedness, and bright prospects.Poor was, of course, promoting acceptance of railroads and enticing his readers to open their pocketbooks. But his metaphors had their dark side. A locomotive was quite unlike anything Americans had ever seen. It was large, mysterious and dangerous; many thought that it was a monster waiting to devour the unwary. There was a suspicion that a country founded upon Jeffersonian agrarian principles had bought a ticket and boarded a train pulled by some iron monster into the dark recesses of an unknown future.To ease such public apprehensions, promoters, poets, editors, and writers alike adopted the notion that locomotives were really only iron horses, an early metaphor that lingered because it made steam technology ordinary and understandable. Iron horse metaphors assuaged fears about inherent defects in the national character, prompting images of a more secure future, and made an alien technology less frightening, and even comforting and congenial.Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the locomotive as an agent of domestic harmony. He observed that the locomotive and the steamboat, like enormous shuttles, shoot every day across the thousand various threads of national descent and employment and bind them fast in one web,"adding an hourly assimilation goes forward, and there is no danger that local peculiarities and hostilities should be preserved. To us Americans, it seems to have fallen as a political aid. We could not else have held the vast North America together, which we now engage to do"The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?a)Criticise one interpretation of the early American railroads.b)Discuss the early years of the railroad and its connection to the American character of the time.c)Suggest that railroads were the most important development in the history of America.d)Describe the apprehension with which most of the Americans greeted the early railroads.e)Assert that Americans were tricked into believing that the railroads were beneficial for themCorrect answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer? in English & in Hindi are available as part of our courses for CAT. Download more important topics, notes, lectures and mock test series for CAT Exam by signing up for free.
Here you can find the meaning of Direction:Readthefollowing paragraphcarefully andanswerthequestiongivenbelow:Henry Varnum Poor, editor of American Railroad Journal, drew the important elements of the image of the railroad together in 1851, Look at the results of this material progress, the vigor, life, and executive energy that followed in its train, rapidly succeeded by wealth, the refinement and intellectual culture of a high civilization. All this is typified, in a degree, by a locomotive. The combination in its construction of nice art and scientific application of power, its speed surpassing that of our proudest courser, and its immense strength, are all characteristic of our age and tendencies. To us, like the telegraph, it is essential, it constitutes a part of our nature, is a condition of our being what we are.In the third decade of the nineteenth century, Americans began to define their character in light of the new railroads. They liked the idea that it took special people to foresee and capitalize on the promise of science. Railroad promoters, using the steam engine as a metaphor for what they thought Americans were and what they thought Americans were becoming, frequently discussed parallels between the locomotive and national character, pointing out that both possessed youth, power, speed, single-mindedness, and bright prospects.Poor was, of course, promoting acceptance of railroads and enticing his readers to open their pocketbooks. But his metaphors had their dark side. A locomotive was quite unlike anything Americans had ever seen. It was large, mysterious and dangerous; many thought that it was a monster waiting to devour the unwary. There was a suspicion that a country founded upon Jeffersonian agrarian principles had bought a ticket and boarded a train pulled by some iron monster into the dark recesses of an unknown future.To ease such public apprehensions, promoters, poets, editors, and writers alike adopted the notion that locomotives were really only iron horses, an early metaphor that lingered because it made steam technology ordinary and understandable. Iron horse metaphors assuaged fears about inherent defects in the national character, prompting images of a more secure future, and made an alien technology less frightening, and even comforting and congenial.Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the locomotive as an agent of domestic harmony. He observed that the locomotive and the steamboat, like enormous shuttles, shoot every day across the thousand various threads of national descent and employment and bind them fast in one web,"adding an hourly assimilation goes forward, and there is no danger that local peculiarities and hostilities should be preserved. To us Americans, it seems to have fallen as a political aid. We could not else have held the vast North America together, which we now engage to do"The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?a)Criticise one interpretation of the early American railroads.b)Discuss the early years of the railroad and its connection to the American character of the time.c)Suggest that railroads were the most important development in the history of America.d)Describe the apprehension with which most of the Americans greeted the early railroads.e)Assert that Americans were tricked into believing that the railroads were beneficial for themCorrect answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer? defined & explained in the simplest way possible. Besides giving the explanation of Direction:Readthefollowing paragraphcarefully andanswerthequestiongivenbelow:Henry Varnum Poor, editor of American Railroad Journal, drew the important elements of the image of the railroad together in 1851, Look at the results of this material progress, the vigor, life, and executive energy that followed in its train, rapidly succeeded by wealth, the refinement and intellectual culture of a high civilization. All this is typified, in a degree, by a locomotive. The combination in its construction of nice art and scientific application of power, its speed surpassing that of our proudest courser, and its immense strength, are all characteristic of our age and tendencies. To us, like the telegraph, it is essential, it constitutes a part of our nature, is a condition of our being what we are.In the third decade of the nineteenth century, Americans began to define their character in light of the new railroads. They liked the idea that it took special people to foresee and capitalize on the promise of science. Railroad promoters, using the steam engine as a metaphor for what they thought Americans were and what they thought Americans were becoming, frequently discussed parallels between the locomotive and national character, pointing out that both possessed youth, power, speed, single-mindedness, and bright prospects.Poor was, of course, promoting acceptance of railroads and enticing his readers to open their pocketbooks. But his metaphors had their dark side. A locomotive was quite unlike anything Americans had ever seen. It was large, mysterious and dangerous; many thought that it was a monster waiting to devour the unwary. There was a suspicion that a country founded upon Jeffersonian agrarian principles had bought a ticket and boarded a train pulled by some iron monster into the dark recesses of an unknown future.To ease such public apprehensions, promoters, poets, editors, and writers alike adopted the notion that locomotives were really only iron horses, an early metaphor that lingered because it made steam technology ordinary and understandable. Iron horse metaphors assuaged fears about inherent defects in the national character, prompting images of a more secure future, and made an alien technology less frightening, and even comforting and congenial.Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the locomotive as an agent of domestic harmony. He observed that the locomotive and the steamboat, like enormous shuttles, shoot every day across the thousand various threads of national descent and employment and bind them fast in one web,"adding an hourly assimilation goes forward, and there is no danger that local peculiarities and hostilities should be preserved. To us Americans, it seems to have fallen as a political aid. We could not else have held the vast North America together, which we now engage to do"The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?a)Criticise one interpretation of the early American railroads.b)Discuss the early years of the railroad and its connection to the American character of the time.c)Suggest that railroads were the most important development in the history of America.d)Describe the apprehension with which most of the Americans greeted the early railroads.e)Assert that Americans were tricked into believing that the railroads were beneficial for themCorrect answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?, a detailed solution for Direction:Readthefollowing paragraphcarefully andanswerthequestiongivenbelow:Henry Varnum Poor, editor of American Railroad Journal, drew the important elements of the image of the railroad together in 1851, Look at the results of this material progress, the vigor, life, and executive energy that followed in its train, rapidly succeeded by wealth, the refinement and intellectual culture of a high civilization. All this is typified, in a degree, by a locomotive. The combination in its construction of nice art and scientific application of power, its speed surpassing that of our proudest courser, and its immense strength, are all characteristic of our age and tendencies. To us, like the telegraph, it is essential, it constitutes a part of our nature, is a condition of our being what we are.In the third decade of the nineteenth century, Americans began to define their character in light of the new railroads. They liked the idea that it took special people to foresee and capitalize on the promise of science. Railroad promoters, using the steam engine as a metaphor for what they thought Americans were and what they thought Americans were becoming, frequently discussed parallels between the locomotive and national character, pointing out that both possessed youth, power, speed, single-mindedness, and bright prospects.Poor was, of course, promoting acceptance of railroads and enticing his readers to open their pocketbooks. But his metaphors had their dark side. A locomotive was quite unlike anything Americans had ever seen. It was large, mysterious and dangerous; many thought that it was a monster waiting to devour the unwary. There was a suspicion that a country founded upon Jeffersonian agrarian principles had bought a ticket and boarded a train pulled by some iron monster into the dark recesses of an unknown future.To ease such public apprehensions, promoters, poets, editors, and writers alike adopted the notion that locomotives were really only iron horses, an early metaphor that lingered because it made steam technology ordinary and understandable. Iron horse metaphors assuaged fears about inherent defects in the national character, prompting images of a more secure future, and made an alien technology less frightening, and even comforting and congenial.Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the locomotive as an agent of domestic harmony. He observed that the locomotive and the steamboat, like enormous shuttles, shoot every day across the thousand various threads of national descent and employment and bind them fast in one web,"adding an hourly assimilation goes forward, and there is no danger that local peculiarities and hostilities should be preserved. To us Americans, it seems to have fallen as a political aid. We could not else have held the vast North America together, which we now engage to do"The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?a)Criticise one interpretation of the early American railroads.b)Discuss the early years of the railroad and its connection to the American character of the time.c)Suggest that railroads were the most important development in the history of America.d)Describe the apprehension with which most of the Americans greeted the early railroads.e)Assert that Americans were tricked into believing that the railroads were beneficial for themCorrect answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer? has been provided alongside types of Direction:Readthefollowing paragraphcarefully andanswerthequestiongivenbelow:Henry Varnum Poor, editor of American Railroad Journal, drew the important elements of the image of the railroad together in 1851, Look at the results of this material progress, the vigor, life, and executive energy that followed in its train, rapidly succeeded by wealth, the refinement and intellectual culture of a high civilization. All this is typified, in a degree, by a locomotive. The combination in its construction of nice art and scientific application of power, its speed surpassing that of our proudest courser, and its immense strength, are all characteristic of our age and tendencies. To us, like the telegraph, it is essential, it constitutes a part of our nature, is a condition of our being what we are.In the third decade of the nineteenth century, Americans began to define their character in light of the new railroads. They liked the idea that it took special people to foresee and capitalize on the promise of science. Railroad promoters, using the steam engine as a metaphor for what they thought Americans were and what they thought Americans were becoming, frequently discussed parallels between the locomotive and national character, pointing out that both possessed youth, power, speed, single-mindedness, and bright prospects.Poor was, of course, promoting acceptance of railroads and enticing his readers to open their pocketbooks. But his metaphors had their dark side. A locomotive was quite unlike anything Americans had ever seen. It was large, mysterious and dangerous; many thought that it was a monster waiting to devour the unwary. There was a suspicion that a country founded upon Jeffersonian agrarian principles had bought a ticket and boarded a train pulled by some iron monster into the dark recesses of an unknown future.To ease such public apprehensions, promoters, poets, editors, and writers alike adopted the notion that locomotives were really only iron horses, an early metaphor that lingered because it made steam technology ordinary and understandable. Iron horse metaphors assuaged fears about inherent defects in the national character, prompting images of a more secure future, and made an alien technology less frightening, and even comforting and congenial.Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the locomotive as an agent of domestic harmony. He observed that the locomotive and the steamboat, like enormous shuttles, shoot every day across the thousand various threads of national descent and employment and bind them fast in one web,"adding an hourly assimilation goes forward, and there is no danger that local peculiarities and hostilities should be preserved. To us Americans, it seems to have fallen as a political aid. We could not else have held the vast North America together, which we now engage to do"The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?a)Criticise one interpretation of the early American railroads.b)Discuss the early years of the railroad and its connection to the American character of the time.c)Suggest that railroads were the most important development in the history of America.d)Describe the apprehension with which most of the Americans greeted the early railroads.e)Assert that Americans were tricked into believing that the railroads were beneficial for themCorrect answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer? theory, EduRev gives you an ample number of questions to practice Direction:Readthefollowing paragraphcarefully andanswerthequestiongivenbelow:Henry Varnum Poor, editor of American Railroad Journal, drew the important elements of the image of the railroad together in 1851, Look at the results of this material progress, the vigor, life, and executive energy that followed in its train, rapidly succeeded by wealth, the refinement and intellectual culture of a high civilization. All this is typified, in a degree, by a locomotive. The combination in its construction of nice art and scientific application of power, its speed surpassing that of our proudest courser, and its immense strength, are all characteristic of our age and tendencies. To us, like the telegraph, it is essential, it constitutes a part of our nature, is a condition of our being what we are.In the third decade of the nineteenth century, Americans began to define their character in light of the new railroads. They liked the idea that it took special people to foresee and capitalize on the promise of science. Railroad promoters, using the steam engine as a metaphor for what they thought Americans were and what they thought Americans were becoming, frequently discussed parallels between the locomotive and national character, pointing out that both possessed youth, power, speed, single-mindedness, and bright prospects.Poor was, of course, promoting acceptance of railroads and enticing his readers to open their pocketbooks. But his metaphors had their dark side. A locomotive was quite unlike anything Americans had ever seen. It was large, mysterious and dangerous; many thought that it was a monster waiting to devour the unwary. There was a suspicion that a country founded upon Jeffersonian agrarian principles had bought a ticket and boarded a train pulled by some iron monster into the dark recesses of an unknown future.To ease such public apprehensions, promoters, poets, editors, and writers alike adopted the notion that locomotives were really only iron horses, an early metaphor that lingered because it made steam technology ordinary and understandable. Iron horse metaphors assuaged fears about inherent defects in the national character, prompting images of a more secure future, and made an alien technology less frightening, and even comforting and congenial.Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the locomotive as an agent of domestic harmony. He observed that the locomotive and the steamboat, like enormous shuttles, shoot every day across the thousand various threads of national descent and employment and bind them fast in one web,"adding an hourly assimilation goes forward, and there is no danger that local peculiarities and hostilities should be preserved. To us Americans, it seems to have fallen as a political aid. We could not else have held the vast North America together, which we now engage to do"The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?a)Criticise one interpretation of the early American railroads.b)Discuss the early years of the railroad and its connection to the American character of the time.c)Suggest that railroads were the most important development in the history of America.d)Describe the apprehension with which most of the Americans greeted the early railroads.e)Assert that Americans were tricked into believing that the railroads were beneficial for themCorrect answer is option 'B'. 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